


Bittersweet

by Twoleaves



Category: Pitch (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bawson Week, F/M, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-09-07 18:09:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8810923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twoleaves/pseuds/Twoleaves
Summary: Mike notices a mark on Ginny's shoulder





	1. Marked

At first she was just a new pitcher on the Padres. She was young and inexperienced and one of the most frustrating and talented rookies Mike had ever had to work with. The longer they worked together though the more the annoyance and jealousy faded and they became friends. They worked out together, had movie nights and went over hitters together. One day, a couple weeks into the postseason, they were working out together and he noticed an odd mark on her shoulder. 

 

“Baker, you got a tattoo?” He asks hopefully.

 

“What? No.” She states still focused on her workout.

 

“You have a mark on your shoulder. Is it your…” He trails off hoping she catches his drift.

 

“What?” She asks flipping her head around trying to see it, “It can’t be. I’m not seeing anyone.” Mike’s heart involuntarily swells for a moment at this statement before he focuses back on her words, “I haven’t been for a while. Those only appear after you meet your soulmate and then they get a matching one… God you already know this, obviously.” He looks confused for a moment and she explains, “You and Rachel.”

 

“Oh, yeah of course.” He says distractedly. He and Rachel did not have matching marks. At the beginning he had hoped they were just slow to develop but after a while he lost hope. They discussed breaking up but had decided it was okay that they weren’t soulmates, their love was enough. As time wore on they discovered they were wrong, they got divorced amicably and quietly only about a month ago. Rachel had had taken an assignment in Toronto about two years ago so nothing seemed out of the ordinary and he hadn't found a way to tell Ginny yet, neither of them were big sharers. Rachel found her soulmate not long after the divorce was finalized. They knew they weren’t right for each other but they were still friends. 

 

Two weeks ago he had noticed a mark on his hip, a little blob that looked almost like a bunny head. Now he was sitting in the Padres workout room staring at a nearly identical mark on his friend’s, his rookie’s, shoulder. Fuck. 

 

“I don’t get it.” She repeated with the confusion still moulding her face, “Must just be a sun mark or freckle or something.” She dismissed.

 

“Yeah, freckle.” He mirrored dumbly.

 

“You ok Lawson?” Ginny inquired.

 

“Yeah, all good.” He said as he returned to his workout.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so this is super short, not sure if I want to continue.... Let me know what you think in the comments! 
> 
> p.s. I don't know why I keep giving my Pitch fanfics Panic at the Disco inspired names but I don't think I'm going to stop...


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely sure why but for some reason short chapters are fitting my tone for this story.... I will try to update somewhat frequently to make up for this. Anyway please comment and let me know what you think! Oh and follow me on tumblr if you feel like at cat-a-bat

It was the next day and Mike was no closer to deciding what to do. He had tossed and turned all night trying to figure out how he felt about this, how Ginny might feel about it, whether he should tell her and even how Rachel would feel if it got out. The only conclusion he had managed to come to was that Rachel wouldn't be happy. She wouldn't be mad because he found his soulmate, she'd be mad it was Ginny. Mike hadn't cheated, not exactly, him and Ginny were teammates and Mike would never do that to Rachel. But towards the end of their marriage you could make the case that Mike was cheating emotionally. He prioritized Ginny over all else, there was even a time when Rachel and Ginny were calling at the same time and he sent Rachel to voicemail in order to have an hour-long conversation with Ginny that turned out to be about whether the new Jason Bourne movie was worth the time it took to watch, she said yes, he said no. If Ginny needed him he was there, no matter what. He tried to put in the effort and time with Rachel too but she was already unhappy and it was just easier not to. They had gotten divorced and she had gone off and found her soulmate. Rachel would've been thrilled for him that he found his soulmate… just so long as her last name wasn't Baker. 

He had no idea how Ginny would feel about this… she wouldn't be ecstatic, he knew that much. They were teammates, professionals. She had just begun her second season with the Padres, she was still just getting started. If this got out people would understand, it wasn't their fault, soulmates were soulmates, but it would be all anyone would ever talk about in reference to them. It wouldn't matter if they worked their asses off and had a spectacular game together, all people would care about was how good soulmates were for a team dynamic. The guys would resent them and the attention they got. God this could not be happening. He threw his head down into his hands and let out a loud groan of frustration. 

Ginny had been acting weird ever since that day in the gym and he didn’t know why. He thought he had done a pretty good job hiding his turmoil but maybe he was wrong. She hadn’t seen his mark he knew that much. 

By day four he decided to confront her, “Baker, what’s up? Did I do something? You’ve been acting weird these past few days.” He questioned nervously.

“I’m fine Lawson. Nothing you need to worry about.” She shrugged him off. 

As she turned and walked away from him she immediately regretted shrugging him off, he was just trying to help. She had had a chaotic week as her mom visited and hounded her over and over again about why she wasn’t dating anyone and how she was never gonna find her soulmate. She didn’t bother to tell her mother that apparently she had already met her soulmate she just had no idea who the hell he was. There was no sign anymore, she couldn’t date someone and wait for her mark to appear, it was already there! It was someone she had met recently, someone she felt close to. She couldn’t think of anyone who fit that description, not any non teammate… non captain. She was still holding on to the hope that the universe was not that cruel. It couldn’t be. To be soulmates both parties had to feel the same way and Mike did not feel that way about her, no siree. God her life was a mess and she couldn’t even talk to Mike about it because somehow he seemed to be the center of all her problems, even if he wasn’t her soulmate.

Mike was not satisfied with her answer but decided to leave her be for the time being. He needed to figure out how he was going to proceed and whether telling Ginny should be a part of that. After that interaction he was leaning towards no.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helllllloooooo! I need to thank my amazing, wonderful, incredibly helpful beta MISSYriver who helped me get this chapter to make sense. I hope you all enjoy, let me know what you think in the comments and what you want to have happen next!

They’d barely talked since Ginny blew him off and told him she was fine. It had been excruciating for all parties involved and was affecting the rest of the team. Mike had decided it was better not to tell her, to not to bring her into this awkward teammate/soulmate limbo he was suspended in. Sometimes Mike wished he didn’t know.

Ok that was a lie.

But knowing wasn’t exactly rainbows and sunshine either. 

Ginny could tell he was keeping something from her and was even avoiding her. She assumed he was spending his time with Rachel which only made her feel worse.

She felt stuck, not knowing who her soulmate was, only that he was out there and close. All the while Mike was out gallivanting around town with his soulmate in his perfect life. Suffice to say she was not incredibly happy with him at the moment.

A couple of days ago their lack of talking was so painfully awkward and distracting that even Blip was commenting, telling Mike that they needed to kiss and makeup. Ginny overheard and had sent them both what Mike had immediately deemed the death glare of the century.

Ginny had enough.

She knew she needed to talk to her captain, maybe not Mike, but her captain. She walked into the training room one day after practice expecting to find Mike lying facedown on the table getting a massage. Instead Ginny was greeted by the sight of Mike Lawson’s ass, clad in only skin tight bike shorts, as he prepared to get into the ice bath that had been prepared for him. She tilted her head to the side staring like a creepy ogler, and somehow not caring in the slightest. She would never admit it but Mike was a sight to behold. He may be on the tail end of his baseball career but that was not the ass of a feeble old man. God she could only imagine the power in those hips, how they would feel grinding into her, thrusting into her … Unbeknownst to her brain Ginny’s throat let out a little moan, alerting Mike to her presence.

  
His head spun around before his body caught up and turned, “What do you need Baker?” He asked gruffly, feeling exposed standing there in just a pair of shorts.

‘Who is this person invading my body? This is not me! I do not get distracted with fantasies about married men who also happen to be teammates!’ Ginny thought.  
She coughed a couple times attempting to clear her throat, “We need to fix whatever’s going on. It’s affecting the team and that’s not ok with me.” She stated while trying to survey his chest in the most covert way possible.

  
“Can we talk about this when I’m clothed?” Mike asks while nodding his head.

  
Ginny’s eyes continue to explore Mike’s body, against her best efforts, until they catch on something on his hip, “Yeah of cour-” She starts before realization dawns on her and she stops suddenly in the middle of her word, “Is tha- are you fuc-.”

Tears well in her eyes as she throws the door to the training room open hearing it swing and bang back and forth behind her so hard it might rock itself right off its hinge.

Mike is baffled for a second before he looks down to see his shorts have slipped to reveal the mark on his hip.

She storms into her private dressing room slamming her back against the door and sinking to the ground with big, hot rivulets streaking down her face. Ginny’s chest shook as she tried to quiet her violent sobs.

That weird little mark that had caught her eye, it matched. Ginny had been inspecting hers for weeks, begging it for some type of clue as to who possessed the matching one, it had given no answer. She had memorized every bump and bend. She had seen those same bumps and bends today, printed not on her own skin but on Mike’s, sitting there proudly mocking her.

How had she not seen this coming? Of course the universe was this cruel. The universe had never been particularly kind to her.

At least this meant Mike reciprocated her feelings, a small consolation at this point. Right now she didn’t care how he felt, she was too angry to care how he felt. He had known. He had known for weeks and kept it from her.

Did he still love Rachel? Oh God! Rachel! How was this even possible? Weren’t Mike and Rachel soulmates? Oh God had she miss seen his mark and just made an embarrassing scene over nothing? No. She knew what she saw and it was the same mark that was emblazoned on her shoulder. He had seen hers a week earlier. He had known, he had known and not said anything. She guessed Mike and Rachel must not have been soulmates. Mike was married. God this was a shitty day. Ginny just wanted to go home and sleep.

  
When she got home she curled up in bed and huddled under the large comforter on her bed regardless of the warm San Diego weather. She lay there and took comfort in the heft of the duvet weighing down on her but felt disappointment pool in her stomach as she found herself wanting, more than anything else, a hug from Mike. She sat there stewing for a few minutes before grabbing her phone off her nightstand and quickly punching in the numbers.

“Ginny?” Evelyn questions.

  
“Evelyn, I’m a home wrecker.” Ginny says in a shaky, congested voice trying her best not to cry again.

  
“That doesn’t sound like the whole story.” Evelyn responds, her concern growing.

  
“Mike is my soulmate Ev.” Ginny offers.

  
“Oh honey.” Evelyn says sympathetically, “You’re not a home wrecker. Mike and Rachel have been divorced for what six months. So you’re not a home wrecker.”

  
“What?” Ginny asks timidly, “Mike’s divorced?” she questions.

“...You didn’t know.” Evelyn mutters, “Yes, Mike got divorced.”

  
“I knew Rachel was living in LA, that she got that job, but I had no idea… He never said anything.” Ginny feels hurt, she thought they were close, that they were friends. How could he not tell her something this big in his life? Ok... so they weren’t the mushiest people, they mainly talked about movies and baseball, but she had just assumed if something important happened he would come to her. Apparently she was wrong.

  
“Gin… I’m sorry.” Evelyn says simply. “Do you want to do a girl’s night or something?”

  
“No, I think I need some space right now. Tomorrow night?” Ginny responds.

  
“Sounds like a plan.” Evelyn says, a hint of sadness tinging her voice. Evelyn sat still for a moment and wondered how Mike had managed to so royally screw up winning the soulmate lottery with Ginny.

  
Ginny hangs up and sets her phone back down ignoring the apologetic texts from Mike and instead rolling over to try to get some sleep. Despite her best efforts and the anger she still feels humming under her skin she ends up knocking on Mike’s front door only a few hours later. He's her soulmate, she couldn’t let this relationship fester and rot.

  
After she pounds on his door relentlessly for a few minutes a still half-asleep Mike opens it.

  
“Why didn’t you tell me?” She questions bluntly. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I definitely had some trouble figuring out how to tackle this but here it is! I want to thank MISSYriver for betaing and helping me hash out the last part because I was having some serious trouble. Read, relax, and review!!!

“I was scared.” he responds plainly.

“You were scared?!?” She responds, her anger had fizzled but it now returned full force, “I sat through hours of being hounded by my mom over when I was gonna find my soulmate, how hard I was looking, whether my career was taking too much of a priority, but you were scared so it’s all worth it. This is scary for me too Mike but when I found out about it I didn’t just find out we were apparently soulmates, I found out my friend, my soulmate had been lying to me for weeks! I found out that despite noticing something was up with me he didn’t think to clue me in on the fact that my soulmate was not some random guy I had spilled coffee on in a restaurant and would never be able to find again but that it was in fact a person sitting right in front of me a person I already have fee- a person I already know. I’m scared too Mike!”

“I’m sorry Ginny. I didn’t mean to hurt you I just didn’t know what to do I didn’t want to freak you out or make you feel awkward at work, I don’t know I just wanted to find some way to deal with this…”

“Deal with it? It wasn’t yours to deal with Mike! That’s pretty much the whole point of it, that you’re not alone, that you have a partner to help you deal with stuff!” Ginny is still fuming.

“I know, I know. I really sorry Gin.” Mike averts his eyes, redirecting them to the ground, “I was scared.”

Ginny takes a deep breath as she notices the vulnerability and sincerity in his voice, it doesn’t dissolve her anger but it certainly shifts it to the back burner, “I know.” She replies before taking a step into his doorway, “Can I come in?”

Mike silently steps aside as Ginny enters. She walks over to his big grey couch and sits down on the edge. He stands in the doorway for another second before closing the door and moving to sit on the opposite end of the couch.

They let the silence settle over them for a few minutes as Ginny works to calm herself down. They still had a lot to talk about but she had decided the yelling portion of that discussion should be over. When Ginny was ready she broke the silence, “You didn’t tell me you were divorced.”

“No I didn’t. I didn’t really tell anyone. I wasn’t really proud in the part I played in the ending of my marriage, not great dinner conversation.” Mike replies defensively before he realizes Ginny has no idea why he would be defensive about this, she doesn’t know about the feelings he had developed for her towards the end of his marriage, he never told her.

“I’m sorry Mike. That sucks.”

“It was time, it hadn’t been a real marriage for a while.” He admits.

“If we have any hope of making any part of this work we’re gonna need to be honest with each other.” Ginny states confidently.

“What is this?” Mike asks with a glint of hope in his eye.

“I don’t know,” Ginny pauses, “but we’re soulmates, I think we owe it to ourselves to at least try to figure it out.”

Mike decides to take a leap and start the era of honesty right then, “I didn’t tell you my marriage ended because I felt guilty. I had started to prioritize you over Rachel and it wasn’t fair to her, then I felt guilty so I pulled away from you without explanation and that wasn’t fair to you.”

“You’re right that wasn’t fair to Rachel, I see why you pulled away. But you’re also right it wasn’t fair to pull away from me without any explanation and leave me feeling like I did something wrong.” Ginny replied bluntly feeling her confidence build as their conversation progressed. She decided to take it a step further, “I had your poster on my wall when I was a kid.”

“Oh really?” Mike let out a wholehearted laugh.

“Tit for tat” Ginny replied matter-of-factly, “you were honest so I was honest.”

“I think I like this honesty thing,” Mike grinned.

Ginny returned his smile before her face turned serious, “Mike, this is all a lot. Plenty of soulmates have non romantic relationships.”

Mike's smile dropped at this, “Is that what you want?”

Ginny stared directly into Mike's eyes. A war waged in her head as she tried to decide how to answer that question, on one hand them becoming romantically involved could cost them their jobs, have untold consequences as it was pretty unprecedented in the league, on the other hand, this was Mike. As she continued to stare into Mike's eyes she realized she saw no manipulation, nothing ill intending. The only thing reflected in his beautiful hazel-brown eyes was sincerity and the slightest bit of apprehension at her answer.

Ginny took a deep breath and finally responded, “No.”

“Me neither.” Mike said as he moved across the couch until he was in Ginny’s space. Once there he lifted his hand and slowly rubbed small circles over her cheekbone with his thumb, “Can I kiss you?”

“Yes.”


End file.
